sweet baby girl...
Some physical characteristics
- You are a petite little “jelly bean” (one of our many nicknames for you)
- You were born at 7 lbs 1 ounce (35th percentile) and 19 inches long (50th percentile)
- You now weigh 17 lbs (6th percentile) and are around 27 inches long (30th percentile)
- Your hands and feet are tiny (you get it honest—from Mommy)
- You have smooth, fair skin and black, curly hair (some have mentioned resemblance to Snow White)
- You have NO teeth, but that doesn’t stop you from eating everything that we eat
- And have I mentioned all of your hair?? And your beautiful curls??
Such a sweet temperament
- You have the sweetest, softest voice
- You give away smiles freely
- You point and smile when Mommy comes in the room
- You wave and say “hi” (2 syllables; in your whispery voice) to everyone
- You give the best kisses
- You say “nigh-nigh” (in your whispery voice) before bed—it’s terribly cute!
Smart & Sassy
- You are very curious
- You do this cute thing with your mouth/voice—mainly in the mornings—where you do kind of a cross between a whistle and a “shh” while looking around the room and inspecting things (and you’ll note “uh-oh” and point if you see something out of place)
- You love to explore and learn (your Uncle Adam says that you’re always planning or scheming)
- You move faster (rather than stopping) when you hear us tell you “no” or “stop”(little rebel sassy-pants)
- You love playing peek-a-boo (“where’s Callie?”) and will hide behind your hands for an unusually long time before revealing (“there she is!”)
Busted!
Using "the force" to read books
You made this face (along with a funny sound) a lot when you were 6-7 months old
Specific things you LOVE
- Music: we sing a lot in our house (we make up songs to just about anything), and you love it! When you hear a song, you immediately smile and begin bobbing up and down / back and forth and clapping.
- Baths: when you know you’re headed to take a bath, you start kicking your feet and smiling. When the water comes on, you squeal and kick. You love to play and splash and blow bubbles with your sissy.
- Greeting “sissy” in the mornings: whether it's in your room or hers, you love seeing Eden in the mornings. You greet each other with big smiles and lots of hugs, then you play on the bed together for a little while.
- Tags and Rugs: your “lovie” is a hippo-blanket thing, but it’s not really the blanket that you cling to—it’s the silky tag. And when you are playing with your toys downstairs, you’ll just randomly stop and lay flat on your belly with your cheek to our soft rug.
- Balls and Books: your Daddy is SO happy that you love playing with sports balls! And you already have a better arm than your big sister. J You also love books. Specifically, tiny books that you can hold in your hand. You always have something in your grasp—and it’s usually a ball or a book!
Milestones that we actually documented
- You lost your umbilical cord at 12 days old (obviously I documented this "milestone" way back when I thought I'd be on top of things...)
- You slept on your tummy for the first time at 13 days old (yes, we went against mainstream advice—but hey, it’s the only way you would sleep—and you still sleep on your tummy!)
sweet girl sleeping (no, this was not at 13 days old; this was at 11 months old)
- You took your first trip to the zoo at 17 days old (we HAD to get out of the house!)
you (thankfully) slept almost the entire time in the sling!
- You first slept in your crib (rather than the bassinet in our room) at 1 month old
- You went to church for the first time at 1 month old
- You took your first trip to the beach at 2 months old
beach beauty!
- You first rolled over from belly to back at 4 ½ months old
- You got your first taste of food (avocado) at 6 months old
yummy! yes, you liked it!
- You crawled at 7 ½ months old (while Daddy was on a mission trip in Haiti)
so proud of yourself!
- You easily transitioned from nursing (birth-6 months) to bottles (7 months-11 months) to straw cups
one of your last "bah-bah's" around 11 months old
one of your first tastes of milk around 11 1/2 months old
While Mommy Works
Our family is blessed that Mommy only works 3 days a week, and it’s all done from home. When you were 4 months old, you first went to Primrose for daycare. Your main caretaker was Marta, and even though you were only there for 3 months, she developed a strong connection with you. She keeps up with your development (and pictures) via email and our blog. After Primrose, we were blessed again to find Jessie to care for you at our house for 3 ½ months. Jessie spent a lot of one-on-one time with you and helped with your development. She read a lot of books, played music for you, and helped you learn to crawl. After Jessie, we were blessed again to have Aimee care for you and Eden at her house. You love going over there to play with Britain (and Eden), and I know Miss Aimee and Mr. John have a special place in their heart for Sweet Callie.
The early days we’d rather forget
As an infant, you weren’t exactly the easiest baby. You cried. A lot. Mommy and Daddy felt so bad that we couldn’t figure out what you needed. And we stressed out over all of the crying. Supposedly Daddy was just like that when he was a baby, so I guess you got that honest, too. Your crying mostly happened in the evenings and into the night. It was like you were so tired you didn’t know how to stop crying and just fall asleep. We tried all kinds of things to make it better. Some worked (Mommy stopped eating all dairy products so your tummy felt better, you got tubes in your ears so you didn’t have earaches anymore). Some didn’t (a product called “colic calm,” acid reflux medicine, etc.). Luckily, you kind of just grew out of it and became the easiest baby!
Poor baby had jaundice and had to be in the NICU for 24 hours...
Poor baby had to get tubes in your ears at 9 months old...
Some snapshots of the early days that we want to remember forever!
Sweet sisters with such a special bond!
Sweet Callie Jeanne - you DID smile and laugh a lot--even in the early days!
Some highlights of the holidays...
Sweet Cal, Callie Jeanne, Cal-Cal – we can honestly say that our lives are more joy-filled because of you. We love you and are so thankful that God blessed our family with you!
3 comments:
Love this post!! She and Abigail seem to be alike with the things they do these days.... And, that picture of her sleeping with her knees tucked under her? Abigail used to sleep the exact same way! :-). They'd be buds for sure if we lived closer!!
Thank you so much for sharing all of these sweet photos with us! It was fun to watch her grow over the past year :-)
Happy Birthday beautiful baby sister!
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